Highlights of the Start-up press conference with Bae Suzy, Nam Joo-hyuk and more

Why did you cast the actors?

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1/18

Director Oh: For Suzy, … I worked with her on a drama series, there is this kind of energy about Susie that you just really want to encourage and see her grow, you know, and even her name itself is just very adorable and lovely so she is somebody that I know very well and all the creators felt very comfortable with so that's how we came about casting her.

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2/18

Director Oh: The writer saw him in the drama The Light in Your Eyes. He showed a very memorable performance there and the writer was very taken with him. So we really felt that he would be perfect for a character who is a developer. who grows by relationships and who grows through meeting different people.

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3/18

Director Oh: I've always been a fan of Kim Seon-ho. He has this very clean yet complex aura about him. He seems very sharp, but he's really just a softie on the inside and he is just one of those, you know, I don't want to say cute or adorable, but he indeed is such a cute character, and very friendly. The character Han Ji-pyeong, he also has the sharpness about him, but he's also a softie on the inside, and I felt like Kim was perfect to convey that.

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4/18

Director Oh: I feel like out of the four people sitting next to me, her character is the loneliest. She has relatively fewer lines or scenes compared to the others, but Hanna is an actress who has… there's just something about her. She's strong, she seems calm but she's also very warm. I won't say anything more because I don't want to spoil anything.

But personally, in the casting process, I really think that the actors’ image itself is extremely important and I am sure that if you see our series you will see that all of them were cast in their perfect roles and also they're so good looking. So just looking at them gives you great pleasure. All of the creators, we were so happy working with them because of that reason so that's a big reason.

Why did you choose this show?

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5/18

Suzy: I was drawn to the topic of startups and also, it begins with quite complex relationships among the characters and it really excited me ,and I really looked forward to seeing how the story was going to unfold. So personally, I really enjoy the story. And also I wanted to encourage other youth of my age because that's the message of the show. So it's a very heartwarming story. So that is why I decided to join this project. And also as I was working with Director Oh and Writer Park, I've worked with them in the past, so hopefully with this project we will offer much better exciting chemistry as well. And for Writer Park, I worked with her for my first appearance in a TV drama, so we have a very meaningful relationship. I'm happy to work with her again this time or hopefully as a more mature actress. 

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6/18

Joo-hyuk: When I first read the synopsis of the story, I felt that this character was still incomplete so I thought, well, if I took this role, I could add more and I can help this character to be more complete right now. This character seems to be a bit lacking a little bit here and there but as the story unfolds he's going to grow, so I wanted to portray that. And also personally I also feel a lot of emotions and feelings in my life, so I saw some kind of overlapping relationship between me and my character. I really wanted to grow together with a character as I play him.

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7/18

Seon-ho: Well, I think Suzy and Joo-hyuk already mentioned, and I'm repeating myself here a little bit, but this show was quite different from other shows. If you look at the characters and their lines ... including the ending scene of each episode, it just compelled me to keep reading the script. I felt very comfortable about the story and the character and what I said. When you look at other dramas, they have a lot of “juicy” stories, but our stories are very heartwarming and encouraging.

Han-na, you changed your physical style and even had a haircut to play this role. How would you rate yourself in terms of the likeness between you and your character?

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8/18

Han-na: I think I can have a strong resolve once I decide to do something. I think that's the resemblance between me and my character Won In-jae. And also once I decide to do something I follow through I get it done, so I think that's another common trait between me and Won In-jae. Regarding my hairstyle, when I had a meeting with our director and writer, they suggested that Won In-jae might look better with short hair, so without hesitation, I got a haircut. Won In-jae is a really amazing businesswoman but deep down, I feel sympathy towards her. So I hope that our audience will be able to relate to that. As a business woman, Won In-jae might look sharp and successful but I hope people can really cheer her on for her personal happiness.

What kind of preparations did you do particularly to immerse yourself in each of your character? 

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9/18

Han-na: Won In-jae is a very hardworking CEO and also she is a very thorough businesswoman. Writer Park gave me some pointers about the character. For example, she gave me some reference videos to watch to understand my character better. And also I searched and looked up some videos of actual successful CEOs, so I tried to emulate their energy and their aura and of course, I studied the script hard and I worked hard with my colleagues here and I enjoyed working with them as well.

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10/18

Seon-ho: My character is kind of the epitome of a young and rich and successful person, so maybe my character is going to flash a great watch and also a nice hairstyle, so those are the preparations I did (laughs). And as Hanna mentioned just now, our writer is very thorough, so she also gave me a lot of details to refer to in order to prepare myself for this character. I studied them and thought about what kind of speech style my character will have.

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11/18

Joo-hyuk: As I was working on my character Do-san, I also had an opportunity to look back on my past and also look forward to my future because I really identified with my character. It is about a story of a young person. To immerse myself in my character, I really looked into myself. Actually, it was not too difficult for me to pull it off because being a nerd is a part of who I am, actually so it was not like an impossible challenge for me to pull it off. Of course, intellectually I thought about how to portray a nerd but then I realised that a nerd is in me. So I just decided to reveal the nerdy qualities in me and then imbue my character with it. Sometimes when I get nervous actually in real life, I tremble, so I use that trait to portray my character as well.

(Suzy, you’re laughing. Do you agree?)

Suzy: Do-san is a very pure and simple kind of person, and he comes across as a nerd as well. So it doesn't take an awful lot of work for him to pull it off I think. Joo-hyuk himself is an adorable nerd.

Joo-hyuk: I think it's a compliment. Although I might be a nerd inside but it doesn't mean that I didn't work hard to perform this role. I worked really hard.

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12/18

Suzy: My character Dal-mi meets a lot of people in the story and I thought about how to interact with these various characters. So I really took a deep dive into the script. For example, Do-san is her first love interest, so how my character interacts with Do-san, and how she interacts with the other different characters. I tried to read the script from the perspective of Dal-mi. And also the topic of startup, that's a new topic for me. So I looked up interviews of young startup CEOs as well. I tried to become Dal-mi in a way.

Suzy and Joo-hyuk, how did it feel to hear that you two would be partners and how would you rate your chemistry?

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13/18

Joo-hyuk: When I heard it... because we call our series a youthful coding romance, I thought that it will really be a great story and also something that I could only do at this age and at this time, and so I really looked forward to doing it. In the beginning, we didn't have many scenes together; we had to act in our separate scenes. And then at one point when we get to meet, I feel like our chemistry was really good and I think this is something that the director really knows.

Director Oh: Yes, I want to give myself a pat on the back for casting these two. They're just so beautiful together. You know, as a person who's always behind the monitor, I look at them on screen and I think to myself, I hope that the world remembers these two beautiful and sparkly people. It's not that there's anything particular or special but you know just the sunlight in a scene with these two talented young people together. It's just beautiful and I hope that the audience will be able to identify and enjoy seeing them grow together on-screen. 

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14/18

Suzy: When I first heard that he would be my partner on-screen and also when I met him on the set, there was just really great energy. He had a lot of great energy as well and I think that created a lot of synergy for me and between us. Like I said before he was Do-san himself. So I was able to really immerse myself in my role as well, thanks to him. He’s so bubbly, bright and I think the scenes with both our characters appearing together are just very bubbly and beautiful, and you just want to cheer for them.

Seon-ho, you’re also on variety show 2 Days 1 Night. How are you juggling the variety show and drama filming?

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15/18

Seon-ho: The creators all really are very considerate of me and my schedule, so I didn’t have any issues with that. However, I do worry that audiences who have seen me for the first time in the variety series. They might feel a little bit awkward to see the character Han Ji-pyeong through my drama series Start-up, but I hope that over time, you will get used to my character and I really hope that you can enjoy both of my roles. And the character Ji-pyeong like the director said, he's truly a softy on the inside. He may have a sharp tongue, but on the inside, he's very soft and I think he has a good heart. I think I am very alike with him in that way. What's a little bit different is that I'm not as mean with my words as the character. I talk about people behind their backs (laughs). I’m joking. But my character is very straightforward and he's very sharp with his words to people, to their faces and I think I can't really be like that. That's something that's different.

In the drama, there’s a conflict between In-jae and Dal-mi. How was it on set? I heard in an interview, Han-na, you said that one of In-jae’s closest friends is actually Dal-mi.

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16/18

Han-na: Yes, in the drama series, my relationship with Dal-mi is unique in that she is my rival, and also there is a lot of subtle conflict going on between the two of us. But because Suzy as we all know, she's just so lovable, so it was very difficult for me to really bring my claws out to the character Dal-mi. While we are sisters that hate each other, on set, we have a great friendship and I hope that you can look forward to the chemistry between us.

Suzy: In-jae is a very cold character, but Hanna that I know as a person is a very bubbly person and very lovable as well. So sometimes there was a lot of confusion for me between the real Hanna and the character In-jae, but it was very fun. And while we had to maintain a certain level of tension between the two, there were times when we would break out into laughter and we couldn't contain ourselves. So I had to really control my mind.

We have heard that there will be some bromance between Do-san and Ji-pyeong...

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17/18

Joo-hyuk: The characters Do-san and Ji-pyeong, when you look at their relationship, I feel like it would just be a really difficult one if it was something in real life. The character Do-san, and his lines, I don’t even know how to describe him. He’s just not someone you see every day. So as I did my lines, sometimes ... I felt really sorry for Ji-pyeong for saying these lines as the character Do-san. Those were times when we would have to film the scene once again because it was just so funny and we would break out into laughter.

Seon-ho: I met Joo-hyuk through this series and what I really love about him is he's just sincere and real about everything. Every little thing he does on screen as part of his act, it just feels so real so I would just follow along with that energy and it was really fun. And I think when we talk about chemistry, mutual trust is extremely important and then sometimes I feel like it also has to do with you know, he would sometimes do improvisation for his lines and it felt like it was Do-san himself doing it. It was amazing to see that.

Director Oh: First of all, I want to say that our cast, they didn’t make that many mistakes at all. They prepared so much. However, the one thing that they did have was that they would break out into laughter so many times. Is it improvising? Yes. There were some improvised lines, but they would look at each other and just burst out into laughter. That's what most of it was. And that actually brought great energy to the scenes and changed it for the better. So I think the chemistry that the audience looks forward to is exactly that. It's very enjoyable to see and very pleasant and people might find a new side of Joo-hyuk on screen and I can assure you it's going to be very entertaining.

Any last words for the viewers?

18/18

Suzy: Throughout the production process, I looked at the screenplay and I was comforted and it helped me take a step back from my life and take a look at my life as it was and I was really comforted and I really hope and believe that the audience will feel that energy as well. It's a very heartwarming story. I hope that you can watch it with a warm and joyful heart.

Start-up starts streaming on Netflix on October 17, at 9.30pm. New episodes will air every Saturday and Sunday.